EVERYDAY HOME | 07.02.18 | by Julie Rhodins
Have you ever held a baby worm? We’re talking about those good worms that make a healthy garden. While some adults might cringe at a little wiggle-thing in your hand, there’s nothing more that children would rather do than take a good long look and then scoot it back to mother earth. And when it comes to summer outdoor activities, we’ve got a fun one for your nature explorer: how to make a worm farm.
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A little more on those worms
Worms provide your garden and landscape with a healthy amount of air and water in the soil. They break up the dirt so your plants can thrive. That’s why baby worms are so great, because they mean there’s a healthy mama-papa worm too. Yep! Worms don’t need two sexes, since they’re both male and female in the same worm. And there’s about 34,000 different types of worms in the world.
If you have a vegetable garden this summer, you can help make it a place that worms like by keeping it organic. Also, regularly adding mulch and organic compost gives the worms “food” to munch on, which basically softly tills your soil underneath.
Back to that worm farm
Now it’s almost entirely universal that kids are fascinated by worms. What better way to keep them away from TV screens and video games and enjoying nature than creating a worm farm!
What you’ll generally need is:
- Vermicomposting worms – ask for composting worms at your local gardening or bait shop
- Old newspapers and food scraps (no oil, cheese, or meat)
- Plastic bin with lid
- Large lid from another plastic bin
- A drill
- A couple of bricks to prop up the bin below so that it can drain out onto your large lid
Check out this adorable video from Ethan who shows you how to do it – he even recognizes that your worm farm is actually a functioning composter for your food scraps. Yay Ethan!! Note: if you get a clear bin, your children can see more of what’s happening via side view.
There’s also several additional ways you can make a fun worm farm. These two girls even find a baby worm.
